‘Balancing risk, that is my life’
The politics of risk in a hospital operating theatre department
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21148847 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ruth Mcdonald (0000-0002-3488-4209), J Waring (0000-0003-1459-5896, University of Nottingham), Stephen Harrison (0000-0001-5951-3300, University of Manchester) |
| Year | 2005 |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 397-411 |
| Publication date | 2005-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Health Risk & Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1369-8575 • E-ISSN: 1469-8331 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13698570500390705 |
| OpenAlex | W2022395629 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 10 |
| References cited | 46 |
The management of risk has become a policy priority in health systems around the world. Current orthodoxy within patient safety policy circles stresses the need to identify and manage risk to reduce harm to patients. However, this rests on an assumption that there is common agreement that risk can be managed, together with a shared set of beliefs about what constitutes risk and the methods for managing risk. The framing of particular issues as risks and the methods chosen to manage these can be interpreted as a challenge to medical autonomy. In this sense, risk management can be seen as a political tool intended to change behaviours and existing forms of organization. In this paper we present findings from a 2-year research study conducted within a hospital operating theatre department. Our findings based on observation and interviews suggest that sophisticated risk discourses can be used by those who seek to challenge the current patient safety orthodoxy. In particular, doctors were able to deploy discourses which emphasize the scientific nature of risk measurement as well as capitalizing on the ambiguous nature of probabilistic risk calculations. The implications for clinical risk management policy are discussed
Autonomy · Business · Computer security · Harm · IT risk management · Orthodoxy · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Risk assessment · Risk management · Sociology · Computer Science · Engineering · Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life · Healthcare Quality and Management · Law · Medical Malpractice and Liability Issues · Medicine · Psychology · Social Psychology
Narratives of professional regulation and patient safety
Back to basics
Enmeshed in controversy
Risk, safety and organizational change in health care
Accountability, organisational learning and risks to patient safety in England
Language games and tragedy
Section 2
Towards democratic governance of uncertainty? Contesting notions of participation, control and accountability
The (commercialised) experience of operating
Constructing and re-constructing narratives of patient safety
Risk Society
Risk and Misfortune
Purity and Danger
Risk and Blame
Ignorance and Uncertainty
Human error
The Tacit Dimension
The Songlines of Risk
Prospect Theory
The reflective practitioner
The Discovery of Grounded Theory
Clinical governance and governmentality
Evidence-based practice and the management of risk in nursing
Conflicting knowledges on risk
A Proposal to Create a Cultural Theory of Risk
Modernity and Self-Identity
Misunderstanding Science
Risk and Culture
Sociological imperialism and the profession of medicine A critical examination of the thesis of medical imperialism
Natural Symbols
Mad Cows and Mad Money
The Unity of Mistakes
Purity and Danger
Sociological imperialism and the profession of medicine
Risk society
Risk and Blame
Judging the use of clinical protocols by fellow professionals
Claims to expert knowledge and the subversion of democracy
| Unique citing works | 10 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,48 |
| Citation span | 2005 - 2023 (19) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 10 |